


Cold Flavors

by cadmean



Category: The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo
Genre: Gen, Worldbuilding, where there's an Uncle there's also a Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 16:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5462780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadmean/pseuds/cadmean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tess has no idea just how her flatmate managed to build up a well-liked pastry shop in a city that already has entirely too many bakery businesses, but against all odds the shop is flourishing. Busy with her own work she hasn't exactly had time to ask more about Valerie's secret to success, but Valerie herself is quick to mention This Friend She Knows who's apparently amazing not only at business, but also carpentry, baking -- anything she can imagine, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Flavors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BleedingHeartCrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingHeartCrow/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide!

The call from Val came just as Tess was heading out of the library. Her bag was slung haphazardly over her shoulder and her arms were full of books, and so it took her a moment before she could dig the phone out of her pocket. Only barely glancing at the display, she picked up with a slightly breathless, “Yeah?”

There was no answer for a moment, only heavy, choked-up breathing. Then: “Tess. Tess, I fucked up. I can’t do this.”

At that Tess came to a sliding halt, pebbles scattering from underneath her shoes. One of the books wobbled precariously on its high perch but she didn’t pay it any attention, instead focused on clutching the phone tighter to her ear and asking, “Is it time, then?”

It couldn’t be – it was too early, they hadn’t been able to prepare at all. Tess briefly glanced at the books in her arms – _Securing Your Home, Self-Defense 101_ – and had to fight hard to suppress a scared shudder. It was too soon, and there was no way in all the world that the two of them were in any way ready to face this.

“He’s coming.”

And Tess, with a calmness that surprised her, said, “Hang tight. I’ll be right there.”

\---

Tess had known Valerie for only the last handful of months. They had run into each other at an open door event for their apartment block, and a couple of days later had decided to look for an apartment together in order to bolster their chances of actually getting one. It had worked out well, too, and though the beginning of their apartment sharing adventure had been dotted with the usual early misunderstandings and cautious toeing around each other, before long the two of them had grown more than comfortable with each other.

This was especially of note as their interests didn’t exactly match in most things: while they both agreed that the best ice-cream flavor was chocolate, no competition, both their private interests and work life couldn’t have been any different. Tess was studying Biochemistry but fairly certain that she’d soon give that up to work full-time at the advertisement media company she was currently interning at, as she’d come to realize that that’s where her true calling lay. Valerie, meanwhile, was ambitious and scarily creative: she’d told Tess that from childhood on she’d wanted to run her own bakery and pastry shop, and through some luck she’d secured herself a small piece of property out near the edge of the city.

Tess hadn’t exactly known what to say when her flatmate had first told her about her plans to open the best pastry shop the city had ever seen – there were so many bakeries and small, homely food joints already that it would be very difficult to catch a break in the business. Surely Valerie must have known this, too, but not once did Tess see her falter in her endeavors to create yet more fascinating recipes and slowly but surely transforming the drab little property into a warm, inviting little shop.

_Tasty Pastries_ , she called it. It was a cute name, Tess thought, and she knew that Valerie put a whole lot of work into improving both the shop and herself while also tirelessly trying to get word out about the bakery. Nevertheless Tess couldn’t help the nagging feeling that it was all going to amount to naught: the competition Valerie was facing was simply too good, too numerous.

Clearly she must’ve been doing something right, though; after six months of stagnancy the pastry shop had recently exploded in popularity. It was now packed full with customers whenever Tess popped in to visit her friend, and Valerie herself was so busy that she only rarely had time to speak with Tess when she was there.

When she stepped through the half-glass, half-wood door that morning she was immediately greeted by the hustle and bustle of a full shop. It was still surprising to see so many people filling the inside of _Tasty Pastries_ – almost all the tables were occupied now. Tess had to smile at the sight, happy that at long last Valerie had finally gotten the success she deserved.

While she was still taking in the sights and sounds, Valerie had seen her and was now approaching her with a huge smile on her face.

“It’s coming along pretty well, don’t you think?” she asked after they’d hugged each other in greeting. “I renovated the kitchen and expanded the dining area a bit, so that more people can fit. There are so many customers coming these days, I don’t know what to do with half of them!”

Tess smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

From there Valerie showed her around the shop, pointing out the things she’d changed and the new pastries she was now stocking, happily chattering away and explaining how super amazingly incredibly awesome things were now that there were actual customers visiting her shop.

“Oh,” she said when Tess asked her whether she had any idea what might’ve instigated this sudden change, “didn’t I tell you? There’s this friend I know who’s super rich and influential, and he’s decided to support me here with _Tasty Pastries_! He’s been putting a lot of time and effort into simply getting the word out about my shop, and it’s really working well, don’t you think?”

Valerie pointed at the nearby wall, all but plastered with various posters. Tess frowned,

> the poster Val was pointing at was completely blank: a single white sheet of paper tacked to the wall by two red pins in the upper corners.

and Valerie, noticing, stepped in front of her to pull down the poster from the wall. She handed it to Tess with a flourish. It was a very impressive ad, Tess saw; high-gloss, heavy paper and a graphic design that all but reeked professionalism. _Tasty Pastries_ , it proclaimed in golden letters. _Come today!_

“This must have cost a fortune,” Tess remarked as she handed the poster back to her flatmate.

Valerie shrugged and

> a shadow passed over her face, the corners of her mouth drooping and her whole body suddenly wracked by an almost imperceptible shudder.
> 
> “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Worried, Tess reached out a hand to support Val, but she took a quick step back just before Tess reached her and

grinned. “I wouldn’t know! This friend I know got it all organized through fundraising, I think – either way I didn’t see a single bill! He’s super talented like that, and did you know that he’s got connections to, like, these really important people in the baking industry? It’s amazing.”

Tess hadn’t seen a single fundraising flyer for her part, either, but she kept her mouth shut and when Valerie made to show her to a table, she didn’t object and let herself be led and settled down and stuffed full with pastries.

\---

The streets of the city were still filled with people, even at this increasingly late hour – then again, Tess reminded herself, it was a Friday night. And while she had no trouble weaving her way through the crowds gathered in front of the bars and restaurants on the way to _Tasty Pastries_ , or dodging puddles of spilled beverages, Tess would have preferred the streets to be entirely empty.

It felt wrong to have a city so bustling with life be the place she and Val would face down the—

Tess choked up, swaying slightly to the side and only narrowly avoiding a streetlight on the edge of the sidewalk. Running a hand through her hair, she took several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself – useless, though, and it was only when a car honked at her that she could refocus on the world around her.

She took a deep breath, lowered her head, and, without looking at anyone or anything, hurried onward. She’d meet up with Val at the shop. Fortify it together, get it ready against—

\---

The friend Valerie knew must have had an amazing knack for timing, because _Tasty Pastries_ continued its upward trend in customers and reached an all-time high of activity over the next few days. This might, Tess theorized, partly have to do with the fact that all the other competitors suddenly one after the other all but barred the windows and nailed their doors shut. Reasons cited ranged from hygienic deficiencies in the kitchen to personal excuses taped to the front of several of the shop doors – Tess saw them in passing, but didn’t pay them much heed beyond writing Valerie a note that she should be extra careful with the kitchen in the next few weeks.

> “That’s the second shop now that’s closed. You think there’s something going on – should I be worried about you?” Tess raised an eyebrow only half-jokingly.
> 
> “No, it’s all good,” Val laughed in reply, clapping Tess on the shoulder and steering her toward the dishes still lying in the sink. “Just—Nevermind. Don’t worry about me.”

She had no idea if her flatmate got her message, because she didn’t see a lot of Valerie after that last visit at the prospering _Tasty Pastries –_ life, as it so often did, got in the way of her asking any more questions about the sudden change in Valerie’s fortunes and, more importantly, the friend she knew who for all appearances seemed to have all the time in the world to support Valerie. Whenever Tess could find time away from her studies and the search for a sink faucet that wouldn’t start dripping the moment she turned her back on it, the phone at _Tasty Pastries_ rang unanswered.

Tess didn’t let herself be bothered by this; she could imagine well enough how busy the shop must be, and how important it was for Valerie to be there, making sure everything went well. Even so: until that point she hadn’t fully realized how much she’d come to rely on her flatmate. The flat was empty most of the time now, with only Tess sitting in her room and typing away at one essay or another – the way things usually were for her, but before Valerie’d had her breakthrough, whenever Tess would take a break she’d be there, reading or drawing up plans for her next entrepreneurial venture.

It was not true friendship – they hadn’t known each other long enough for that --, but it was a comfortable companionship that Tess had grown fond of over the last few months.

Tuesday morning and thus twenty-two days after she’d last seen, let alone talked to her flatmate, Tess woke up and, upon being hit straight in the face by a stray ray of sunlight filtering in through the window, decided that enough was enough.

An hour later she was standing in front of _Tasty Pastries’_ front door, still closed at this early hour although inside the shop she could see Valerie already bustling about. After a brief moment’s hesitation Tess raised a hand and knocked against the locked wooden door

> which she distinctly remembered as having had a glass inlay in the upper part, which Val said she’d decorate with festive stickers and the like once a proper holiday rolled around,

and waited.

Truth be told she would’ve probably stood there all morning if another customer hadn’t also arrived and knocked as well – and while there had been no reaction at all to Tess’, the sound of the other woman’s knuckles rapping across the wooden door almost immediately resulted in Valerie throwing it open and beaming at them.

“Good morning! Hey, Tess – didn’t see you there. Were you waiting long?” she asked as she ushered the two of them inside, herding the other woman toward one of the low tables near the window front while dragging Tess along to a small booth next to the counter. When she had settled down Valerie moved behind the counter again, busying herself with a stack of dishes fresh out of the dishwasher. “Well, what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Tess replied after a moment, unsure of how to bring up her worries. “It’s just—you’re not really home at all anymore, and I was wondering how you were doing.”

Valerie chuckled. “I’m fine! Super busy, but I’m happiest when I’ve got things to do. And this friend I know, he’s been a real help, too!”

Nodding, Tess said, “I still haven’t actually met this friend of yours, you know! Why don’t you bring him around sometime for a beer or something?”

If she’d thought that the prospect of a quiet night relaxing in the company of her friend and flatmate would’ve excited Valerie, she couldn’t have been any more wrong. Valerie stared at her, face suddenly white as a sheet with eyes wide with fear.

> “You can’t—I mean, it wouldn’t be any fun, so. He’s a bit strange around people he doesn’t know, and, umm. I really wouldn’t want either of you to feel uncomfortable,” Val said. She wouldn’t meet Tess’ eyes.
>
>> “I’m afraid he might do something to you, so it’s best if you just stay away from me for a while, Tess.”

She kept her silence, though, and so it was on Tess to say something. She stared at the countertop for a moment before finally asking, “What’s wrong? Are you alright? Was it something I said?”

“It’s nothing,” Valerie reassured her. Yet there was a strange tone to her voice, entirely unlike her usual demeanor, a note of hurt and worry swinging underneath it – and when Tess looked at her to see what was wrong she saw

> Val, a large bruise covering the right side of her face, sitting at the kitchen table. She was staring blankly out the window, hands on the table and clutching a stack of what appeared to be advertisement posters. They were trembling.

that her flatmate was now putting away the last of the plates, briefly struggling with a large stack of bowls before managing to safely move them away from the edge of the counter. With that done she wiped her hands on her apron and went over to the other side of the counter, coming to stand next to Tess.

“It’s nothing,” she repeated, and with a gentle but firm hand proceeded to push Tess toward the door. “Really.”

\---

That night, sleep wouldn’t come to Tess no matter how many times she rolled around under her covers. As she turned over yet again, she caught sight of the clock – well past midnight. She groaned.

Right then, the door to the apartment was unlocked.

Tess’ room was near the front door, with Valerie’s right across the hallway, and so she could hear every last plodding step as her flatmate took off her shoes, laid down her bag, and then sunk down against the wall to Tess’ room.

After a few quiet seconds, Tess began to hear dry sobs through the paper-thin walls.

She was at the door within seconds, pulling it open and kneeling down next to the crying Valerie. Hesitantly Tess reached out a hand to gently pat Valerie’s shoulder, not quite certain whether this was the best course of action but, when no reproach came, she rubbed her shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

“Hey,” she slowly said after a moment, “are you alright?” The question seemed ridiculous as soon as she asked it, however, and so Tess quickly added, “What’s wrong? Can I do anything for you?”

To her great relief Valerie’s tears stopped as soon as she voiced her questions. Her flatmate swallowed heavily a couple of times, then shrugged off Tess’ hand and wiped the tears away.

“I’m in trouble, Tess. In a whole lot of trouble, and I don’t know what to do—the shop—“ Valerie trailed off, staring blankly at the floor. When she spoke again it was in an uncharacteristically small voice. “I think I might die. Or, worse, you might.”

Everything slotted into place for Tess at that. It took her a moment to fully collect herself – over-reacting right now would do neither of them any good, she knew – but after a deep breath she managed to ask, “You’re—You’re not in league with the _mafia_ , are you? Like, some sort of money-laundering business?”

Valerie stared at her. Then, like a great big bubble that was now finally caving under its own pressure, she burst out laughing. “What—No!” She was hysterical, hiccupping, tears starting to collect in the corners of her eyes and cheeks flushing. Tess could only look on in silence, entirely at a loss as to what to do.

“No,” Valerie started again once she’d calmed down a bit. “It’s not a money-laundering business that’s my problem, and I’ve not run afoul of the mafia, either. Do we even _have_ a mafia here?”

“I don’t know, actually,” Tess admitted with a shrug. “But that was the only thing I could think of. If you’re still mafia-free, though – what’s wrong? Why do you think we might die; what’s going on?”

Here Valerie grew sober again, her eyes drifting away and her head lowering. Her hair fell into her face, and her voice was tiny and quiet when she finally said, “It’s that—guy. This friend I know who’s helping me out with the shop, supporting me and stuff. He’s—Tess, I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.”

She didn’t say any more than that, and so it took Tess a moment to see that Valerie was now crying again. The tears ran down her face in silence, and she was white as a sheet of paper – shaking, too, the trembles increasing until at last Tess reached out an arm and wrapped it around her flatmate’s shoulders.

“Hey,” she began, unsure of what to do or say but too far in to stop now, “c’mon. There’s no need to cry, I’m sure! Just. Just tell me what’s going on, let it out, and together we’ll figure out how to deal with it, yeah? And then it won’t be anywhere near as bad as you’re thinking it is right now.”

Any hope that her words might have calmed Valerie were quickly dashed, however; she ripped free of Tess’ arm and scooted back on the floor, arms wrapped around her chest and hugging herself so tightly Tess was worried she might break. She was still crying.

“Why does it always end like this? Everything was perfect and then you had to come check up on me, and why would you—“

Tess stopped her with a confused wave of her hand. “Tell me what’s going on, Valerie.”

“’Valerie’,” she repeated, half-mockingly, half something else that Tess couldn’t identify. “That’s it, isn’t it? I’m ‘Valerie’ to you, so it should’ve all been good--tell you? Don’t you remember, Tess? Aren’t we _friends_?”

Tess narrowed her eyes at the last two questions – there was nothing she thought she should remember, and bringing questions of friendship into this was about as useless as throwing coffee creamer into the air. It had absolutely nothing to do with the situation, and she opened her mouth to tell Valerie just that—

> Aren’t we friends?

The words echoed in her head, going around and around, twisting and changing and—

And just like that, Tess remembered.

She had first met Valerie Hain at

> the local coffee shop where they were both working, and they had been introduced to each other by
>
>> Ms Hannan, on the first day of elementary school, Tess and Val assigned to sit together and quickly becoming inseparable.
>> 
>> “Let’s be best friends?” Val had asked Tess during the last period right before Thanksgiving, clutching her paper-maché turkey to her chest so tightly that it was in danger of tearing. “Like, forever and ever and nothing can tear us apart? Not even boys or, umm, stuff like monsters and dragons and _astronauts_?”
>> 
>> And Tess had laughed, and gently taken the turkey out of Val’s hands, and she’d grinned and said, “Best friends forever and ever. I so swear.”

> the owner, a man whose name Tess couldn’t properly remember because he was never really around, anyway. Usually it was only Val and her at the café, and one evening, cleaning up for closing time, Val had turned to her with a serious expression and said, “Hey, Tess? Are we friends?”
> 
> The question had taken Tess completely by surprise – she and Val got along well, and on occasion had a lot of fun together even outside their work here. But was that friendship, really?
> 
> “Sure,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. “Why not?”

a place that had never properly existed, or at least she had never herself been to. She remembered that now – her memory told Tess that she had run into Valerie during an open door event, yes, but there were other memories too, warring for her attention. For truth.

Tess had known Valerie only for the last few months. They were sharing their apartment and the few occasional hours of free time, but not much beyond that. Valerie was an acquaintance, and nothing more.

> Tess had known Valerie for almost a year. They had met at their workplace after Tess had been hired there, and after a couple of months of both of them complaining about the people they were currently living with, had decided to do the obvious thing and move in together. They weren’t the best of friends, but they were getting there.
>
>> Tess had known Val for most of her life. They had been inseparable since elementary school, and when they’d finished college they had moved to the city together. Val had found work at a bakery, Tess an internship at a marketing firm. Their shared apartment was usually filled with laughter whenever the two of them were in it together, and on their first New Year’s Eve away from home, they promised each other that nothing in all the world could ever get between them.

Reeling, Tess sank down onto the floor of their apartment. So many thoughts—so many memories—she didn’t know how to properly articulate her thoughts, and so she simply went for the first thing on her lips: “What the hell, Val?”

\---

By the time Tess finally rounded the corner onto the street where Val’s bakery was situated, it was already nearing midnight. Due to the late hour the street itself was increasingly empty, and even as Tess hurried toward the shop the last few stragglers – almost as if sensing that something was going to happen – turned away from the street, either unlocking the doors to their own homes or moving on to greener, livelier pastures.

_Tasty Pastries’_ windows were still lit, however, and the moment Tess knocked on the door Val was already throwing it open and dragging her inside. She then quickly locked the door behind them again, throwing first the chain and then a deadbolt into their locks. The key stuck in the hole she did not turn, instead pulling it out and handing it over to Tess.

“If anything goes wrong,” Val explained as she pushed the key into Tess’ hand, wrapping her finger around it and briefly squeezing. “Lock the door behind me and—and it. I won’t let it get out.”

“And _I_ won’t let it get to that,” Tess replied with a determined shake of her head.

“Tess—“

“No. We face this together, you hear? No one’s getting left behind—I won’t leave you alone with this thing, not again. Not ever.”

Val nodded at that, a grateful smile on her face. “Well then. Let’s do this.”

She led Tess to the back room, where she had already collected a pile of wooden planks, duct tape, and a very menacing-looking hammer.

“For barricading the door and windows?” Tess asked with a nod at the planks.

Val shook her head. “No. It’s for hitting that bastard over the head with as much strength as you and I can manage.”

“And you think that’ll work?”

“No,” Val chuckled darkly, “but I want to at least be able to say that I caused a bruise if nothing else.”

Lifting the hammer up and flipping it over in her hand experimentally to test its weight, Tess found herself agreeing. “You can have the first hit, but make sure you leave some for me too, yeah?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t dream—“ And just like that, the light in Val’s eyes left again. She grew silent, and still, and the wooden plank she was clutching in her hand trembled minutely. With unseeing eyes she turned toward the front door. “He’s here.”

\---

They were sitting at the kitchen table. Val had a mug of steaming tea in front of her, Tess one filled to the brim with hot chocolate. Companionable silence surrounded them, and from the only window in the room the first rays of the rising sun were slowly starting to leak in. Tess alternated between watching them and looking at Val stir her tea, until at last Val set down the sugar spoon and, after taking a long, deep breath, began to speak in a halting voice.

> > “Hey, Tess! You’re free this weekend, right? Do you want to do something? It’s been so long since we did anything together, I feel like I’m living with a stranger!”
>> 
>> She said it lightly, jokingly, but from the way she held herself – on the balls of her feet, ready to bolt – Tess could tell that Val was feeling uneasy just asking.
>> 
>> If Val had simply been some acquaintance she probably wouldn’t have noticed, but after over fifteen years of knowing each other, Tess could tell. Knowing this, and knowing how her fried would simply nod and force a smile at her next words, Tess’ heart was already broken by the time she managed to force her own mouth open and say, “I’m sorry. I’ve already got plans with a couple of people from the advertisement company, we’re going to check out a shop for our next assignment.”
> 
> “Tess, are you still interested in that band that’s coming to town? Because I might have been able to snag two tickets, if you’re still interested . . .?” Val waved them in front of her nose, all but bouncing where she stood.
> 
> But Tess could only shake her head. “Sorry – I didn’t think we’d be able to go, so I already made plans with some people from school to study and drink copious amounts of coffee. Do you want to tag along? You could sell the tickets again really easily, I bet.”

“I remember,” Tess replied, unable to meet Val’s eyes. “But—“

> “No, that’s alright,” Val said with a lopsided grin, “I’ve got this friend who’ll go with me – he’s the one who got me the tickets, actually! And did I tell you, this friend I know, he’s actually also a friend of one of the band members? So you’re missing out if you’re not coming along, because he said we could probably meet them.”
>
>> “Val, you’ve got plans this weekend? Because I was thinking we could maybe go to the park and, I don’t know. Feed the ducks, maybe.”
>> 
>> There was a fair at the park, too, which she hoped Val didn’t know about – it would be a surprise when they got there, and Tess could treat her to cotton candy and those caramel apples Val could devour ten of without breaking stride in the slightest.
>> 
>> Instead of an enthusiastic ‘yes’, however, all Tess got in response was a slow shoulder shrug. “Ah, sorry—there’s this friend I know who’s invited me on a baking seminar. He knows a whole lot of people in the baking industry, and he said he’d get me connections and advertisement deals for my shop.”

Val, too, wouldn’t look at her. “I guess we both messed up. That’s where it started, though—this friend I know. He’s—“

“Not entirely human?” Tess finished the sentence for her. “I gathered that. He got you the tickets, and the business connections for _Tasty Pastries_ , and he’s behind the other shops all closing up, too, right? So either he’s with the mafia – which you said he isn’t – or he’s, well, something else.”

Taking a calculated-looking sip of tea, Val smiled. “I like how easily you’re accepting this. I thought I’d have more trouble convincing you,” she admitted with a sheepish shrug.

True enough – Tess herself wasn’t sure why she was as accepting as she was. But there were so many fragments of memory spinning through her head, all different, all with the same core, that at this point it would’ve been more ridiculous _not_ to believe Val.

There were a lot of things she wanted to tell her friend – that she was sorry for how things had turned out, that there were a lot of things that had been simple products of circumstance and that if she could, she would do them differently now – but in the end, Tess could only shrug. They were best friends, Val and her. Some things just didn’t need words.

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever happened, happened – whether the first or the second time makes no difference at all – because we’ve now got to deal with the fallout, right? Right. So.” Tess paused to take a big gulp of hot chocolate. “The real question here is: how do we fight this friend you know?”

\---

There was a knock on the door, and just like that, all the bravado left Tess. Wide-eyed she glanced first at the door, then to Val, then back to the door again – it was shuddering in its frame now, the continuing knocks increasing in force and ferocity.

_Can I come in?_ a voice yelled from outside. For a moment Tess was inclined to answer, to call out that yes, of course, why not? It was a pleasant-sounding voice, after all – just like the first time she’d heard it – but the sight of Val’s fear-stricken face snapped her out of that line of thought quick enough.

Snarling, she raised the knife in her hand so that it was pointing at the door and shouted back,

> “The hell, dude? The shop’s closed, can’t you see?” The door
>
>> Tess opened with a smile and a curious glance back at Val, who was still standing behind the counter, looking as if the devil himself had suddenly decided to come calling.
>> 
>> “I’m sorry, the we’ve decided to close up early today because—“ she got no farther than that as a massive man shouldered his way into the shop.
>> 
>> Or no, he didn’t really push past her at all, instead the moment she turned the doorknob he was just sort of there, behind her, in the middle of the room – standing right in front of Val, who had slumped against the counter and was now staring in horror at the man—
>> 
>> Who wasn’t really a man at all, Tess now saw.
> 
> shook once more as heavy fists pounded against it, but it didn’t give even an inch. Wide-eyed, Tess turned back to Valerie and whispered, “Call the police,” and then, louder, back at the man still pounding on the door, “We’re calling the police!”
> 
> _Are you, now?_ asked the man from right behind Tess. She spun, horrified, and _saw._

“Leave us alone! Val’s done with you, you hear? She doesn’t need you any longer!”

The pounding stopped entirely at that, and for the briefest fraction of a second Tess could half-heartedly believe that the friend – thing – had left, that everything was alright, that she and Val had just gotten themselves needlessly worked up about this.

But:

_She will always need me._

> _She needs me now more than ever._
>
>> _Me? It’s you she doesn’t need. You were never there for her._

And then, like resentment and loneliness coalesced into physical form but without having actually achieved that last critical step of physicality, the friend Val knew simply _ignored_ the door and stepped through it and into the shop.

For a moment it just stood there, flickering, the edges of its being caught in an ever-changing array of forms. Then it looked at Tess, promptly ignored her, and focused on Val – it took on a more human form, then. Vaguely male, tall, well-muscled; yet anyone only glancing at it would have realized in mere seconds that it was not quite any of those things.

Just looking at this friend Val knew felt inherently wrong, and Tess, off to the side, almost dropped the hammer she was still holding with the force of the revulsion that hit her at the mere sight of the thing standing in the middle of the room. Though at this point she and Val only stood inches apart, the gulf that now divided them felt as if it were miles wide.

Twice they had gone up against the friend Val knew, and twice they had failed.

Tess would not let that happen again.

They had been unprepared the first two times, she recalled – the first time had taken both of them aback.

> > “You said you were going to fulfill my wishes! How does this fulfill _anything_?”
>> 
>> _Payment_ , this friend Val knew said—shouted—projected into the silence between thoughts.
>> 
>> “But I don’t want this—“
>> 
>> _You wanted someone to help you, to support you when no one else would, no matter what you were up against,_ the friend she knew tore the words into the emptiness between hearts. _And I am here now. All will be well._

And the second time

> she could almost remember the first time she’d stood there, arms crossed over her chest and glaring at this intruder – who had only grinned a smile that was much too wide for a normal face, and enveloped Val in a hug before Tess could even so much as move.
> 
> Tess watched them now, just standing there. He was whispering something into Val’s ear and thought Tess couldn’t make out exactly what the words were, she could tell from Val’s stiffening posture that it wasn’t anything good.
> 
> _Valerie_ , the man had said, already turning around, the dark edges of his coat fluttering in some nonexistent breeze, hands that were still clasping tight to Val’s shoulders somehow simultaneously stretching out towards Tess—
> 
> And they were no longer hands but ephemeral claws, long jagged nails tearing through the air – through reality itself, it seemed – toward her—
> 
> “Tess,” she heard Val say, almost apologetically, and then the blank darkness surrounding this friend Val knew enveloped her and Tess knew no more.

had, if anything, gone worse.

“I’m here for Val now,” Tess said, loud and clear and with as much conviction as she could possibly muster. “And that’s what matters, for now. You are no longer needed, friend.” She was speaking from her heart, now, all her emotions pouring into her words as with one savage leap she moved toward the friend Val knew. Pointing an accusing finger at it, she punctuated each of her next words with a quick stab at the air in front of it with her hammer. “You are no longer welcome here. _Leave_.”

The friend Val knew laughed at that, loneliness bleeding out of each and every syllable as it began, _I don’t—_

Val stepped forward at that, cutting the friend she knew off with an angry, determined wave of her hand. “That’s right. You don’t – you don’t belong here, you don’t have any purpose here. I don’t need you.”

It was as if Val’s words were acid: the friend-thing twisted where it stood, shouting in an inhuman voice that Tess feared would threaten to tear apart the very fabric of reality itself if it didn’t stop soon—

“I don’t need you,” Val repeated. She gestured for Tess to come closer to her, who obliged; side by side they stood in front of the creature. “I have my friend right here.”

And this friend Val knew changed.

Where once it had a vaguely had human shape it now only barely held any semblance of form at all, a writhing, seething mass of resentment that turned and twisted in and around itself. Stripped of all its vain human trappings and flickering where it stood in a perpetual state of desperate change, the friend-thing turned where it stood –

> the edges of its form quickly changed into bladed appendages
>
>> and though Tess tried her very best to dodge them, there were simply too many
> 
> that knocked her down to the ground, flat on her back, panting heavily and
>
>> tore straight
> 
> through her
>
>> heart.

but by now Tess knew perfectly well how dangerous even this apparent helplessness on the thing’s part was. Without taking her eye off of the creature, she grabbed Val’s hand and held tight, intertwining their fingers – Val visibly calmed at that, and Tess, too, felt more grounded.

They were not alone, neither of them, not anymore. Never again.

The other times they had faced off against the friend Val knew separately, and those times had ended in disaster; but now they were here, together, and the creature no longer held any sway over them.

Val tugged at her hand. “Let’s do this,” she said.

The friend Val knew roared at that—

Tess nodded. “Let’s. Together.”

The friend Val knew roared again, more desperate-sounding, and stumbled back first one step, then two—

“Together.”

And together, hand in hand, they stepped forward to face down This Friend Val Once Knew.

\---

The journalist found _Tasty Pastries_ to already be respectively busy for the early hour. It took him a couple of minutes to work his way through the people standing around, chatting and holding mugs of tea or coffee in one hand, baked confections in the other. When he finally came to a halt in front of the counter, however, he found the shop’s owner working away at a lump of dough. He stared at her for a moment, unsure of whether to interrupt her in her work – but then she looked up, saw him, and nodded.

“Good morning, Miss Hain,” he started, but she cut him off almost immediately with a shake of her head.

“Valerie, please.”

“Valerie. Valerie, I work for the Evening Gazette, and as part of our column on local success stories, we’d like to write about you and your experience with building up _Tasty Pastries_.” She nodded at that. “Now, to get right to the point: what’s your secret? Your competitors have all managed to make a comeback, but you’ve continuously been outshining them. Tell the truth: who did you sell your soul to for such success, Valerie?”

Valerie laughed at that, pausing momentarily in her work to look at the journalist. “Well, I’d love to say that I managed to come this far all on my own, but truth be told there’s this friend I know who has, quite frankly, ungodly amounts of determination and who’s been a real big help.”

She briefly turned to look over her shoulder to wave at someone – a woman, sitting at one of the booths, surrounded by books and typing away furiously on her laptop. At Valerie’s wave she got up, closed the laptop, and sauntered over to the two of them with a curious smile.

“This is Tess,” Valerie said, grinning first at the journalist, then at her friend. “She’s working on her first big gig right now – in advertisement – so she’s super busy, but nevertheless she’s been incredibly supportive! I wouldn’t be standing here today if it weren’t for her.”

The two of them shared a knowing glance that the journalist noted with a raised eyebrow, but before he could ask what exactly Valerie meant by that Tess went on, “And without Val’s support I wouldn’t find the time to work on it, so I’m really thankful that she’s keeping my back free here. I don’t know how I’d manage without her! I mean, we're both super busy with our respective work and I wouldn't change that for the world, but it's always nice to know that you've got someone to rely on.”

They both laughed good-naturedly, and when the journalist nodded after a few more questions and said his thanks they both turned away, Tess moving back to her table and Valerie focusing on the dough again. Eating his pastry the journalist watched them for a while, noting the easy, comfortable rapport between the two of them – whenever a large group of customers entered at once and things became busy, Tess would check up with Valerie to see if she needed help, and during lulls they’d giggle away at something or other on the laptop.

And yet, whenever there was a knock on the door, for a brief second Valerie and Tess would freeze, and glance at each other, and if it weren’t entirely ludicrous the journalist would’ve thought that the short, aborted movements they made seemed almost as if they were reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there.

The journalist didn’t think overly much of it. Though among insider circles there was still speculation that perhaps the string of curious incidents among the city’s bakeries was more than mere coincidence, there was no evidence either way that it was anything more than bad luck that had hit the shops. Beyond that, it had stopped now, anyhow – some of the other bakery shops were still struggling to get themselves back on their feet again, yes, but it had been some time now since anything had actually happened. The city’s bakery shops were doing well for themselves once more.

After finishing his pastry, and with a wave at Valerie and her friend Tess, the journalist exited the shop and went back out into the cold winter air, towards the bus stop, already thinking of how to best compose his article. He’d put Valerie and Tess’ friendship at the center, the glue that held the story together – that would keep a lot of people interested, this tale of two young women pursuing their respective dreams while nevertheless being so supportive of each other.

A scowl formed on the journalist’s lips as he thought of his own friends – who were nothing more than people he’d been acquainted with a particularly long time. He sighed, thinking to himself how nice it must be to have a friendship like the two women had. If only he had a friend like that—

_You want a friend to support you? To help you with whatever you need?_

The journalist turned, startled. The words seemed as if they had come out of nowhere, but now that he looked, he saw that there was a man standing a little off to his side, leaning against a lantern pole. Never before in his life had the journalist seen this man, but almost immediately he was struck by how comforting his presence was.

“Well,” he started, only to quickly trail off as he realized that he wasn’t quite sure how to explain himself.

The man, for his part, only shrugged nonchalantly and grinned impossibly wide, face stretching far beyond the limits of human physiology.

_I can be that friend._


End file.
